Robyn Jasko has had firsthand experience with the various challenges space poses when it comes to gardening.

"I have had real fire escape gardens," she said. "I lived in the city, country and suburbs. I always loved having a garden somehow."

Jasko, 34, was motivated to write a book on the subject of gardening because she wanted to make it as simple as possible for people to start growing their own food.

"Homesweet Homegrown" will be available in stores May 1.

Jasko called the book a simple essential guide to growing food anywhere from an urban fire escape and windowsill to any size yard or concrete slab in suburbia.

"Every year I look at about 20 different books for different tips, and I thought, 'Wouldn't this be great if it was all in one place,' " said Jasko, who calls herself a self-taught gardener.

Independent publisher Microcosm Publishing contacted Jasko, the co-founder and editorial director of Grow Indie, to see if she had an interest in writing a book based on the website.

Grow Indie, which provides the backbone principles upon which the book is based, is an independent food, travel and grow guide. Jasko also provides gardening tips and information based on a test garden in Kutztown at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center.

Jasko and her husband, Paul David, 43, also reside in Kutztown.

"We run the test garden and report outcomes on 300 varieties of seeds from independent seed companies all over the country every year, and then we report on the easiest ones to grow for the home gardener," Jasko said.

David is the other co-founder of Grow Indie, which is an offshoot of Dine Indie, which they founded in 2007. The main aim of all of their websites is to support local dining establishments and food growers.

Based on the tips Jasko provides in her book, there is no excuse not to grow your own food, as long as you have the motivation.

For those who want to take it a step further, she offers tips on "how to homestead," giving tips on what, how much and how to grow enough to last you for an entire year.

The book provides practical solutions to growing, from utilizing yogurt containers, egg cartons and soda containers to starting seeds indoors to building a cold frame, which acts as a mini greenhouse, using hay bales.

"You just put two windows on top of the hay bales and you can grow fresh vegetables three seasons or more," she said.

Jasko gushed with excitement about harvesting a tomato in January and wants you to get that same giddy feeling by sharing something she lives and breathes as her own lifestyle.

Gardening is so much a part of her life that her husband surprised her with a seed room for her birthday. It is a customized room devoted to starting her seeds indoors.

There are many reasons why Jasko is so passionate about growing her own food and why she is motivated to have others do the same.

"Self-sufficiency; you have your own food supply," Jasko said. "You can go right out your door and pick a tomato and some lettuce."

In addition, she discussed the benefits of avoiding genetically modified food and food treated with pesticides.

"When you grow your own you know exactly where it comes from and where it is treated," she said.

She said there also are environmental ramifications.

"You are cutting down on food transport costs, and your food is more nutritious," Jasko said. "Food loses nutrients as it travels around."

Within Jasko's gardening 101 approach, you can simply create what she calls a plant-in-a-bag garden.

"It's as simple as cutting an opening in the top of a bag of topsoil, adding a few drainage holes and then putting your plant or seed directly in the bag," Jasko said.

All you have to do is water and provide it with sunlight.

"The cost is $4, and you can get 10 to 20 pounds of tomatoes off of that," Jasko said.

If the concept of interplanting and companion planting are over your head, Jasko suggested the windowsill garden as another easy way for people to break into gardening by growing herbs and lettuce.

"All you need is the space and good light," she said.

If all you have is a concrete slab outside your front door, she directs you to the container garden to grow such crops as tomatoes and squash.

The side of a fire escape is ideal for such items as peppers, watermelons and cucumbers.

If you are limited in space, she suggests tomatoes and Swiss chard.

"You can grow it all season long," she said. "Lettuce tends to bolt when it's hot."

She also suggests lots of herbs, such as basil.

"That is pretty easy and quick to grow," she said. "Homemade pesto is awesome."

She also recommends a way you can build a mini greenhouse inside your home. The greenhouse acts as a seed starter for many items, including basil.

"My favorite is the salad container," she said. "I use these things all the time. I have lots of containers going on right now."

When it comes to selecting seeds for her garden, organic heirloom seeds are her favorite, particularly for growing colorful beans.

"These are the only seeds you can actually save and replant, and you get the exact same variety," she said.

Her resource guide in the back of the book will direct you to independent farms that sell seeds such as High Mowing, which you can purchase at Kimberton Whole Foods, Douglassville, or online. Happy Cat is another local heirloom seed variety high on her list. It is sold at The Companion Plant in Kutztown.

In addition to growing seeds, she gives great tips on storing leftover seeds and their shelf life, so no need to toss out any packets of unused seeds.

To round out her how-to-homestead approach, Jasko takes things a step further from growing by getting into canning, storing and even recipes, which she shares with readers.

"It is all the recipes I use," she said. "I came up with a bunch of different ways I use vegetables."

Recipes include using a kale leaf as a taco shell, using a veggie peeler to make zucchini pasta and cauliflower as the primary ingredient for mashed potatoes.

If you are scared of freezing and canning, she also takes the 101 approach to ease you into the idea.

"Freezing is so easy," she said.

Jasko provides tips in the book for freezing various crops to enable you to enjoy the bounty of your harvest all season long.

When she's not writing, gardening and managing Grow Indie, Jasko is a marketing executive at Runner's World magazine. In June Jasko and Kutztown-based artist Jennifer Biggs, who illustrated the book, will embark on a book tour across the country.